This week was an incredible week.  The other zone leader and I started by making a zone plan on Tuesday.  What we decided that the zone needs is to focus more on our real purpose.  Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the RESTORED GOSPEL... we have been missing the focus on the restoration of the Gospel.  We have been talking to everyone about the church, but according to all of the numbers this week we weren't talking to the people about the restoration of the gospel, our main message.  We found almost twice as many people, and talked to about the same quantity of people.  So that for me is a testimony that there is really more power in missionary work when we talk about the restoration.

We found a sister named Rosy this week.  She goes to the Adventist church.  They believe that the Sabbath day is still on Saturday because the 10 commandments can't be changed.  So we started talking about Peter in the first appointment and that he had the keys, about the importance of prophets, priesthood, and revelation.  And we told her that Peter, under divine direction was told to change the Sabbath day to Sunday (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinth. 16:2).  She wasn't convinced.  So we took a step back and explained to her the restoration, that God called Joseph Smith to be His prophet in these days and that he was commanded to change the Sabbath day to Sunday.  We told her about the Book of Mormon and that if it is true than the Sabbath day is Sunday because Joseph Smith is a prophet.  We answered some questions.  We found out that in her church they have a prophet that is a woman, and that she wrote a book.  But she had never read it.  We told her that by their fruits shall ye know if a prophet is true or not, so she has to read or the book of Mormon or the book of her prophet, but preferably both to know which one is really a prophet.  It seems like we left her with some doubts as to if her church is true, cuz her and her husband aren't all that convinced to start with.

We also taught the restoration to some less actives in the ward.  We did it with a puzzle and with the doctrines written behind the pieces.  But there were four pieces missing.  Revelation, and Priesthood power to 1 baptize, 2 give the gift of the Holy Ghost, and 3 seal families together forever.  so we went through the exercise.  And when we finished explaining it, the brother, who returned to his christian church, started to get a little angry, because the "gospel can´t be broken".  So we explained the apostasy and that it was partially lost and for the confusion of some of the Christians.  He then was a little bit illogical in some of his answers.  But then he asked how Joseph Smith died.  I can honestly say that it was one of the most powerful experiences I've had in my whole life, and without a doubt the most powerful in my mission. It was the strongest I have ever felt the spirit through my own words.  I started to tell the story and the house was full of the spirit.  And it almost made me start to cry.  My voice trembled a bit as I told the story.  I testified that Joseph Smith died as a martyr, innocent of any crime, and killed in innocent blood, unarmed and in prison.

My companion and I reflected on the experience and we have no idea why the brother did not want to accept our message.  The spirit was so strong in that moment.  His only argument that he had at the end was that we honor more Joseph Smith than Jesus Christ, even after we had shared scriptures testifying that Jesus is the Christ, and that Jesus has done more for us than Joseph Smith. It was sad that the brother could reject our message so harshly.  The good thing is that he said that it always goes that way when the missionaries talk to him.  It was my second time, but he is still really friendly with us cuz his son is in the mission. and he respects the other beliefs.  so who knows.  Maybe the next missionaries will be able to help him more than me.

We also had a lot of splits this week. One day I was with Elder Lopez in Purification.  First of all a dog tried to bite me twice, for no reason whatsoever, my sweater that I had taken off was the only thing that saved me from certain stitches.  But the other thing that happened was that we went to an appointment with a new investigator that they had.  But the most incredible thing was that we could not feel the spirit at all in the appointment.  We wanted to talk about the restoration but we could not.  I felt my mind very clouded, and the brother was not opening up very well.  We couldn't even mention the word prophet.  It is what I would call a stupor of thought.  And then I realized what it was.  I all of a sudden started telling the brother that he has a problem and that until he wants to get over it we cant help him.   I basically told him that he has an addiction (not explicitly, but very obviously) and that we can help him to overcome it, and THEN we could feel the spirit.  A little bit.  It was a very weird feeling but as soon as we left the house (we were outside for the lesson) we felt instantly better.  I talked to Elder Lopez a bit, and we have few ideas about how to help. It was another experience in which I was able to receive revelation to be able to help an investigator know that we are representatives of Jesus Christ and that we really do have his power to be able to help him.

We also explained the restoration to a brother named Eloi (blessed of God in Hebrew) that day. He knows a ton about the bible and we couldn't get anywhere in telling him about the restoration, cuz he knows the bible way better than we do.  We did show him a few scriptures that did help him to soften his heart a little bit to open up to the message.  And at the end of the appointment he asked what he would have to do if he decides that the Book of Mormon is true.  So we told him to listen to the other lessons and to do the commitments so that he can know that it is true.  "If any man will do my will he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of man or whether I speak of myself"  He accepted to listen more to the missionaries without getting too much into the extra details about the church and the bible.

We also taught the most incredible lesson about the restoration last night to a brother called Fernando.  He accepted everything and honestly we could see the spirit explaining everything to him more than we were.  He understood perfectly what a prophet does, why we need a true church, and the whole Idea about how the Book of Mormon came to be.  And he is going to read it and try to stop drinking.  And all of that in less than 30 minutes.

 Those are just some of the experiences that we had this week as we were teaching the restoration. We hope that some of these people will decide to follow our advice to study the restored gospel and decide if it is true.  Maybe some of them will progress, but I can say that our teaching is much more powerful when focused on what makes us unique than what makes us the same.  

I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he did indeed see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and that Christ called him to restore the church and the Gospel to the earth.  Without him I would not be here. I am forever indebted to Jesus Christ for his sacrifice and I hope to be able to continue strengthening my testimony of Him and that through that testimony I will be able to overcome all of my struggles and problems. It is incredible how much these plain and precious truths make a difference.

Love,

Elder Allred